A Conspiracy & A Madman's Game (Hiatus)
by HereInTheLaterNow
Summary: A young woman, slightly obsessed with the idea that a well-known pizza-arcade chain is hiding a series of murders dating back to the 70s, sets out to uncover the dark story behind the infamous Fazbear Franchise and why for some reason William Afton and the very creations he made won't let go. (Better version on Archive of Our Own)
1. Prolog

She was six when she first was introduced to the Fazbear franchise. Back then there was a place called Freaky Fredbear's Pizza Arcade where she obsessively poured hours into an old Zelda arcade game. It was different from the average pizza-arcade, there was a prominent stage in the "Performance Room" next to the game room where a large golden brown bear, appropriately named Fredbear, performed. It was different from the one that existed decades before her birth, a knock-off almost.

Nothing, besides the usual lawsuits that came with a franchise, happened at that restaurant until her friend's seventh birthday party. She was tucked away from the rest of the kids who wanted to tug at Fredbear's wires. In a corner she watched her father play Galaga. She had snuck away from him while she waited for her turn when she stumbled upon a darkened hallway and like any other child she dove in head first, her curiosity pulled her forward into a room with an old, brownish bronze-colored plaque labeled "Office".

It wasn't anything special: dimly lit, dusty, and stuffy. The only thing that was worth looking at in the office was an old computer that quietly whirred in the center, it wasn't what was on the computer but rather the papers under the screen that she could properly see if she sat on her knees in the chair. One paper sat in the middle of the desk while others were scattered about. She didn't understand much of the paper but she did gather two things: One, Fredbear was getting replaced. Two, in a location in Mayhem, away from her, a kid had just died _AGAIN_ and the company didn't want anyone to know.

She had stumbled out of the chair, the letter still gripped in her hand, when an employee walked through the door. "Hey, kid! What the hell are you doing in here?" She ignored the screams of the man and burst back into the performance room into the arms of her father. She had balled the paper up and placed it in her back pocket.

A week after that the place had shut down for reasons unknown and a few weeks after that her father had announced they were going to move, which didn't bother her until he had said where they were going, Mayhem. She remembered the name from the paper she had stolen, the ink was already faded.

She never liked Mayhem.

She saw things, but she never told anyone besides a close friend she had. She heard things people didn't hear. She became slightly obsessed with Fazbear and everything that had to do with it and as she fell down the rabbit hole of theories and scandals she became determined to uncover the dark past of the franchise.

When her father died for unknown reasons her relationship with her mother become more and more strained. Her mother was secretive, so was her daughter. She didn't know much about herself but she knew one thing: she was curious, she was smart, and she was going to do something great one day.


	2. Nothing But Theories

It was a quarter 'til seven when Lysander pushed open the door into her dark apartment. She peeled off her soaked clothes. She dropped a flyer that was clutched in her hand on her bar counter. She flicked a light switch and the apartment was suddenly illuminated. Papers were strewn about on various flat spaces. Old photos and newspaper clippings were tacked to her creamy beige living room wall. The biggest was a photo she had somehow successfully stolen from an "evidence locker room" in her junior year of high school when she skipped her programming class to go to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Place. It was Springtrap, she called it that because she presumed, rather she KNEW, the William Afton's zombified corpse resided in it. Originally named Spring Bonnie, but Springtrap made sense.

"Speaking of Fazfuck's," she, while in her underwear, swiped up the flyer and grabbed her laptop. NOW HIRING! The flyer was bright, flashy, and slightly ominous with the animatronics on it. Funtime Freddy, Funtime Chica, Funtime Foxy, Cherry Bomb, and Circus Baby were on it.

Lysander opened her laptop and searched "fazbears hiring in mayhem". She was led to the main website where true enough, there were jobs open. That was weird, there were never jobs open.

The jobs listed were: Nightguard, Engineer, and Waiter/Waitress/Entertainer. Nightguard tempted her, but if she knew anything, it was to stay away from there the moment the sun goes down, even if all the souls were released a while ago, or so she assumed. She read through the nightguard description, which strangely was the only description there was.

Nightguard: $7.35/hour. Must be familiar with security camera systems. Must have fast reflexes. Must be able to work under stress. Must be good at time management.

She already had a resume made from her waitress job she had gotten fired from a week ago and she had graduated a while back with a bachelor's degree in both computer programming and engineering, but she decided on the waitress/entertainer position, mostly because she liked kids and not murderous robots. After she browsed a bit more she shut her laptop. She stretched loudly and wiped her blurry eyes. She could hear the rain as it tapped against her window, the sun had set a while ago and she stood in the middle of her apartment. She contemplated whether she should call her mom. _"I don't wanna fight with her right now."_ She decided and retired to her room. She told her self she should be happier, she spent her childhood on those animatronics, but the only thing she could feel was nervousness and that was what put her to sleep.

Lysander woke up to a notification on her phone. Fazbear Enterprises. "That was fast," she yawned. Until she realized that they had called her in for an interview at 12:30. She sat up in her bed, it was 11:30 and she had to at least look presentable. She could make it if she was really fast about it. Suddenly, a car honked outside her window.

"Fucking unbelievable," she groaned as she spotted her mother's car in the parking lot. "First, I get this damn email and then _she_ comes along."

Her mother let herself in with the spare key she made after she stole her daughter's key. Lysander stood against her door still in her underwear but with a fluffy, olive green robe around her. Her mother was dressed in expensive clothes with fine jewelry adorned and a fancy handbag to match, she always looked like that, at least from what Lysander could remember. Her mother was a lawyer for some corporate shit, she couldn't remember. She glared at the woman. She loved her mother, she really did, but she got on Lysander's last nerve. She watched her mother as her mother's eyes took in the room around her. Her mother's nose scrunched up in disgust as she made contact with the rather prominent photo of Springtrap. "Momma, I told you about knocking!"

"Girl, I raised you, this my house," her mother, Penelope, snapped then smiled. "You're up early."

"Yeah," Lysander walked past her mother to her kitchen for some coffee. "I got an interview apparently."

"Really? Well, where is it?" Penelope asked hopefully.

"Fazbear's," she said shortly and scooped some coffee grounds into her brewer.

"You gotta grow up eventually! It was cute when you were a freshman, but you're an adult now," Penelope made her way into the kitchen.

"I'm twenty-two, that's hardly an adult," Lysander said bitterly as she saw the first drops of coffee drip into the pot.

"You grown enough! Don't talk back to me like that no more," Penelope hissed at her.

Lysander saw that her mother was angry and she tried to redirect the conversation. "Where's Walter?" Walter was her stepfather, he was a nice old white man with a kind smile and a voice that could make the ingredients on the back of a shampoo bottle sound interesting. She liked him a lot and wished he was here to diffuse her mother's anger that slowly grew.

"He's in the car, we were planning to take you to breakfast." She said. Then walked into the living room, stepping around various papers and clippings. "So, explain that." She said then pointed directly to Springtrap.

Lysander was surprised her mother actually wanted to know about anything about that. "That's Willam Afton's corpse in a mechanical bunny suit," she said bluntly.

"Oh," her mother said and sat down.

Lysander frowned again. "One step forward, three steps back."

"You should be making steps towards your future," Penelope remarked. "I swear it's like you're willing to throw away your life over a piece of paper you found as a kid."

"It was proof."

"It was a balled up paper from years ago! Grow up, Lysander! I waited this long but you just test me time and time again!"

"Why can't you just support me like dad did?" Lysander snapped.

"Your dad put up with you!"

"No, I think he put up with you!" Lysander shouted then immediately regretted it as her mother's face dropped. "No, Momma, I didn't-!"

"You ungrateful little girl, _I_ put up with _you!_ I just want you to have a bright future and you waste it on _this!_ " She suddenly pointed to the photo of scrapped animatronics Lysander took when she trespassed on an old sister location a while back and ripped it from the wall.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" She told herself no matter how mad she would get she would never swear around her mother. She told herself a lot of things. She ran to the torn photo and tried to push the sides together as if that would put it back. "Dad cared about me, Walter even respects me, so why can't you?"

Penelope was at a loss for words. She watched as her daughter's eyes began to tear up and she left without saying anything. Lysander watched as her mother got into her car and drove off. Walter looked confused at her mother's expression but complied nonetheless.

Lysander turned back to the photo when something suddenly stood out at her. It was Cherry Bomb along with a few others in the scrap after the fire at an old location. It was a small detail, she couldn't have seen it before, but in Cherry Bomb, she could see black and white stripes. Marionette.

"That means Marionette is Cherry Bomb, maybe," she whispered. She looked up at the clock. 11:50. "Oh, fuck me!" She sprinted back into her room for a change of clothes.

By the time she reached her car, it was 12:00 and she sped like a madman while her blazer hung loosely on her arms. Luckily it was only about fifteen minutes away but she didn't want to seem unprofessional before she even got the job. She drove into the surprisingly full parking lot. It was a Friday so it was understandable why there were already people there.

The first thing she saw when she reached the door was how tacky the decor looked. Dark blue, black, red, yellow, and white did not compliment the building whatsoever. She supposed it didn't matter as the building was clearly meant for kids, the bright colors would actually draw in the kids' attention. As she pushed that stupid thought from her head she noticed how kids surprisingly didn't circle around one animatronic too long. She thought that maybe the kids would flock to Baby if not then Funtime Freddy. The way the animatronics moved around kids was so... _Protective_. Motherly almost. "Maybe because the souls that were trapped in the metal contraption were kids," she thought. She wondered if they weren't freed. The souls would be free if the animatronics were destroyed, which they were. At least she thought, as the animatronics moved about as if they weren't burnt to the ground years ago.

As far as she was concerned, there should be no souls around there at all. Just empty, metal husks. The light in their eyes seemed to make her think otherwise.

A light brown haired man had obscured her vision of the animatronics. He was handsome and wore a bright smile. She imagined that acne-riddled teenagers would be the ones who worked there. The man in front of her looked like an actor in a popular movie series. Nevertheless, his name tag proudly relayed his name RHYS with MANAGER, printed above in faded letters.

"I'm Rhys, the manager, and unless you are here to party in that getup," he grinned and motioned towards her button-down and blazer. "Then I'd assume that you are Lysander Travis, applying for our Waitress/Entertainer position. If not then you must be absolutely mental to wear such a nice pair of trousers here." British. His accent was British. It wasn't uncommon at all to see a European in Mayhem what with all that happened downtown but to have one (especially as attractive as he was) who worked a kids' pizza joint. That was weird.

"Um...Yes, I'm Lysander," she extended her hand in a friendly gesture. He flashed a smirk before he gently took her hand and shook it.

"I like Shakespeare, by the way," he smiled.

"Oh, my name, yeah, that's all my dad ever did. Play video games and read books. He wasn't the most popular in his class." She sharply inhaled the smell of pizza and grease. The heat of the room had suddenly become more apparent.

"Well, come on then. I got a pizza place to manage!"

He led her past the bright lights of the front of the building and led her to the back where the lights were dim. She felt nervous. The atmosphere of the area felt familiar to her as she ventured into an area she felt like she didn't need to be. He opened the door to his office which was brighter than she'd thought it would be but still dim and slightly ominous.

He motioned for her to take a wooden seat while he sat on the hardwood of his desk. "So, why do you want to work here?" He asked while both of his hands gripped his desk.

 _Fuck._ She hadn't thought that far, and she wasn't going to make up some bullshit. "If I am going to be perfectly honest I'm fresh out of jobs and I don't entirely hate kids so I thought: 'why not?'"

Rhys nodded slowly, if not with a slight smirk that told her he didn't believe her, nevertheless, he put on a grin that could bedazzle anyone who caught sight of it and kicked his legs off his desk. He went behind his desk and rummaged through papers, clicked and typed on his computer, he did everything but look up at Lysander. He finally looked up with a smile that beamed almost as bright as the sun. He smiled a lot, and he was really good at it. He handed her a thick stack of papers which she read through and signed. She noticed a quote that said, "We are not liable for any dismemberment or such during closing hours." She visibly shivered in which Rhys replied with a funny look. She was pretty sure it was too late to back out, plus it would be rude. He spent ten minutes to check what she had marked.

"You got the job!"

"What?"

"Well yeah, We want you. _I_ want you. You seem like a valuable addition to the team with that background of yours. Computer programming is it? I was never good at information technology," He complimented her and she felt her face heat up just a bit.

"It's, really, wow!" Lysander couldn't even comprehend what had happened. She was used to weeks where she'd wait for someone to respond back to her and yet she immediately got the job. Something about that exchange just didn't feel right. "It wasn't supposed to," she told herself. It was the _Fazbear Enterprise_ , every knockoff pizza joint under their umbrella was supposed to feel forbidden.

"You can start today! Now if you want, I can give you the tour." She nodded and let herself be led out of the office and through the back area.

"This is the West Hall and this door in front of you is where the surveillance room is. On the other side of that is the East Hall where the break room is." He walked out of the hall to the long, rectangular playroom. "This is the Playroom, that door on the right of where we are standing is the entrance and the door on the left leads to Ballora and Funtime Foxy's Stages, also known as the Secondary Stages. The Prize Corner and supply rooms are also located there. These two rooms plus the dining area are the only areas animatronics are allowed to do what we call 'Freeroam'. We call it the 'Freeroaming Ground'."

He walked north through the playroom into the dining area. "This is the dining room. To the right are the restrooms, and to the northwest is the buffet with the kitchens behind it." He finally pointed forward. "That is the Main Show Stage. The repair room is to the stage right, behind the curtains. We've got emergency exits on the East Hall, in the dining area, in the Secondary Stage Room, and in the kitchen. Clear?" Lysander nodded while she made an interior map in her head.

"Well then, welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Place. You will either serve various snacks to children, entertain them in some way, or if parents order specific orders you will give that to them. You will also wipe the tables down."

She nodded slowly. "It sounds no different than the job I previously had."

Rhys patted her shoulder. "Then you should do fine. We only have a day-guard, a cashier in the front, the one in the Prize Corner, a janitor/repairman, and chef, so if there's anyone you know who can be an engineer then just let me know. Done?"

Lysander nodded happily. "Done!"

"Good grief! How was it?" He grinned.

"A bit much but nothing I can't handle," Lysander nodded resolutely.

"Okay, the workers we have now may seem a bit mean but once you get to know them they are absolute sweethearts," Rhys turned back towards the west hall. "Today is preparation day, tomorrow is your training day. I'll need your measurements for a uniform among some other things, but other than that you are set." After she filled out what needed to be filled out Rhys insisted that he'd walk her to her car. She avoided the animatronics as she walked out of the door.

"You're going to have loads of fun here just you wait! I look forward to working with you. Rest easy," he winked at her as she pulled out of the parking lot. It was almost two o'clock when she pushed herself into her tiny living room, thankful that she'd managed to avoid eviction. She grabbed the discarded flyer off of her bar counter and tossed it into the trash.

She considered to call her mom and let her know she got the job but she didn't have the patience for that woman at the moment. She was still rattled from being _that_ close to fully functional animatronics and with a whole day to kill she pushed away her notebooks and fully focused on herself and her looks. If she was going to have a cute boss might as well have fun with him.

Yet something about Rhys, she couldn't quite put her finger on, was very _very_ familiar.


	3. Training Day

Lysander woke up at exactly 10 AM the next day. She sighed as she remembered her alarm was set for 8 and she just slept past it. She hardly slept last night, between a mix of social media and nervousness from her eventual inevitable interactions with the animatronics. She blearily picked up her phone and noticed her notifications. She had another email from Fazbear Enterprises but instead of just "Fazbear Enterprises" in the email name Rhys' name was also there. It was only his first name and it was a bit weird but his name was a bit weird so she assumed he didn't need to put his surname in the email address. It was a digital copy of her new schedule she had worked out with her new manager. 12-6 on weekdays, 12-8 on Friday and Saturday and they weren't open on Sundays because of something Rhys vaguely called "Animatronic Reparial Day".

She pulled herself out of bed into the bathroom to clean her face and brush her teeth. She put on a robe and dragged herself into her kitchen to make coffee. She had two hours to kill and she was hungry enough to actually consider breakfast with her mother. She decided to go get herself something but as she walked out of the door in her new work uniform she noticed a familiar car pull up. It was Walter's car.

"Baby Girl!" Walter stepped out of his car to embrace his stepdaughter. He was a handsome, kind man. She never understood how he ended up with her mother.

"Hey, Walt! What are you doing here?" She smiled happily, she hoped he would take her out for breakfast. They seemed to have less quality time than before.

"Well, I was planning to take you out to eat, but I see you've got work," he beamed at her proudly.

"Not for another hour and a half. So, where are you taking me?" She ran into the passenger seat of his car. He laughed heartily while he got back into his car. "I'm thinking breakfast nachos."

"Great minds think alike," she laughed and slipped into a comfortable silence while he drove.

"So, Baby Girl, how's life been treating you?" He said while he kept both hands on the steering wheel and both eyes on the road.

"I got fired from that diner on Proctor Street, but it's okay because I start my first day at Fazbear's today." She said while she fiddled with her name tag that had her name in dark letters: LYSANDER with WAITRESS underneath.

His smile faltered for a second. He pushed a hand through his brown and grey hair. "Well, I guess I can't eat there anymore! A shame too, Becky the waitress was very kind." He laughed it off, but she noticed. He parked into the parking area of the place they were going to eat at and turned to her. "Come on, I've got some things to talk about with you."

She swallowed, she knew exactly what he meant. After they got their food she looked up at Walter with a look that expected conversation. He patted his mouth clean and made direct eye contact. As always, he was intimidating and commanding, yet gentle and playful; she was sure that was what drew her mother to him. Kinda like her father was years ago. She stopped. She promised herself she would never compare her father to Walter. They were both great individual people, yet they were also very secretive.

Come to think of it her mother was, too. It must be a family thing.

"Penelope told me what happened yesterday, it took much convincing of course. Listen, Lysander, I know your mother isn't the most supportive-."

"Yea, you're right about that," Lysander interjected.

"Yes, yes, I know. You do know she still loves you with all her soul," he continued.

"It wouldn't kill her to show it sometimes," Lysander crossed her arms frustratedly

"And you cussed at her," a thin-lipped smile graced his features.

"It was more of a question really," Lysander mumbled as she directed her gaze down towards her breakfast.

"Baby-," he started.

"You just keep on siding with her," Lysander felt her face heat up.

"I do n-" he began again, slightly agitated.

"Yes, you do." She cut him off angrily.

"I don't choose sides," Walter stated simply, very agitated.

"Yes. You. _Do._ " She whisper-yelled but was cut off by Walter's glare.

" _Lysander_ , damn it! Quiet girl!" She quieted quickly.

"It's just her job that's been straining all of her relationships, she doesn't hate you, I promise she'll be better soon," he took her hands softly. "No matter what happens you'll always be my Baby Girl, do you copy?"

"Word from word." She laughed happily as she realized that was yet another inside thing they hadn't done in a while. "Do you want me to drop you home or to work?" She had about thirty minutes but decided to go to work. Walter dropped her to Fazbear's and smiled at her as she got out of the car and walked into the entrance of the pizza place. She turned back at the window to see him deep into his glove compartment as he drove off back the way towards her house.

The cashier was a woman who looked to be almost thirty at most, twenty-five at least. She was a pale white woman with a 1920s curly bob cut and ruby red lips, yet she wore the striped black, red, yellow, and blue uniform. She dressed like a woman from the 1920s who figured about pinup fashion thirty years too early. "Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Place-oh! You're the new girl. Mr. Rhys told us about you!" She bounced on her heel and shot out her hand to greet Lysander. "I'm Athena, pleased to meet you!"

"Lysander Travis, it's a pleasure!" Lysander said and shook the bubbly woman's hand.

"Mr. Rhys told me to tell you to go drop your stuff in the staff room in the East Hall and then meet him back in his office in the West Hall," she smiled and Lysander nodded awkwardly. Athena was very friendly, she wasn't sure how to feel about her yet.

"See you!" Athena called behind her back before she turned to greet some customers.

Lysander turned into the East Hall that, besides the posters, looked exactly like the West Hall and walked into the staff room that looked like a teacher's lounge. She didn't have anything besides her wallet and phone in her back pocket and her keys in her bra. She went to the neighboring hall and knocked on the door. Rhys' footsteps could be heard as he rushed to the door.

"Ms. Travis, are you ready for training?" He sharply inhaled afterward, then another smile graced him. She nodded and followed him out.

"I hope you like animatronics, they'll be everywhere." He laughed coyly. Lysander felt the bile rise in her throat, studying the things was one thing but the thought of her up close and personal with them was awful. He led her into the playroom where kids ran past in excitement to the next nearest thing. He began to explain the patterns of the animatronics to her, but it went through one ear and out the other. She silently studied the animatronics herself, the way they moved with vigor and ease as if they were alive. She studied the way the behaved around kids versus adults. Lysander shook her head and laughed at herself, there were no spirits around her, nothing but metal and heat.

"Cherry Bomb likes to be near the Prize Corner, however, he also performs on the main stage," she, however, heard that and kept a mental note of it. He turned towards Lysander and smirked smugly. "Are you even listening? Or is my restaurant too well managed to comprehend?" She rolled her eyes playfully.

"I kid," his smirk morphed into a bright grin. "But to be serious you won't spend a lot of time in the kitchens, you'll be here to make the kids happy or to make the parents happy, and wiping down tables of course." He walked her through the basic things she had to do and then he set her off. She knew he'd probably watch her in the surveillance room and she made sure to do her very best.

"Hey!" An Asian man walked up to her. "You're new, right?" Lysander nodded apprehensively with a smile that faltered.

"You don't want to be caught dead here around 10 PM. I heard the last nightguard died. No one cared because he was a homeless man without a family," He said and shrugged his shoulders at the same time.

Lysander's eyes widened but she shook it off and smiled. "You're fucking with me."

"Believe what you want," he shrugged again and walked out of the entrance. Lysander felt that wouldn't be the last she'd ever see of him. She shook that creepy exchange off of her mind and got to work.

She was about three hours into her job, she smelled of pizza grease and the slight tartness of sweat. Nevertheless, she still smiled at every kid that passed her way. She even gave out candy and sweets. For a moment she forgot why she was truly there. She suddenly snapped into business mode.

"If anything would be here, where hell would it be?" She mumbled to herself and scanned her surroundings, even the variously placed cameras. She came to four conclusions: Rhys' office, the surveillance room, and the storage and repair rooms. While she was deep in thought a young girl ran up to her and tugged on her apron.

"Hey! Hey, Miss! Can you fix Baby?" She pleaded and Lysander tried not to look horrified.

"Um, uh, yeah! Sure, lead the way!" She spluttered out and slowly followed the girl. When she got to the area where Baby was her blood ran cold, a small group of children was circled around Baby, they all turned to look at Lysander with big, dark eyes. "Alrighty," she slowly walked a step forward and then another and another until she could touch toes with the robot that beamed up at her with green eyes.

 _Green?_

She vaguely remembered blue. No matter, she shot her hand out and fiddled with Baby's arm plates until her fingers could move again. Circus Baby continued to make balloons for the children, her eyes on Lysander. Rhys had run up behind her and she jumped.

"Oh, did I startle you? My apologies I just had to ask how you did that?"

"I have a bachelor's degree in computer programming and engineering, I just kinda fiddled with the things I knew until it worked."

Rhys' face was wide and he smiled at her. Lysander remembered that he said something like that earlier, did he suddenly forget? "Why didn't you apply for the engineer position? Why are you working here?"

Lysander scratched the back of her head, could she tell him why she worked there?

"Never you mind! I might just be able to use you like our new engineer, a couple of extra dollars an hour, how about it?"

Lysander still wasn't sure what had happened and she didn't remember nodding at Rhys, all she could focus on was Baby's bright green eyes trained directly on her. _"I could back out now,"_ she told herself, but she read her contract and she knew that Fazbear practically owned her for the next five years. _"Not if they're exposed,"_ she told herself again and that is what would keep her going. Not (well not totally) money, but curiosity, justice, a bit of fame, and the vengeance of her friend from so long ago. She tried not to think about him.

She left her first day with the eyes of the stationary animatronics on her, it was dark outside and the cold air nipped at her face. She realized Walter dropped her to work and she cussed at herself.

"Goodbye, Lysander, see you tomorrow!" Athena smiled brightly at her and drove off. She turned to walk off until Rhys tapped on the window behind her.

"Lysander, why aren't you gone?" He asked her with a concerned smile that didn't stretch his cheeks like his smiles usually did. "Don't tell me you want some overtime?"

"Nah, I just didn't drive here today and I gotta walk now," she shrugged.

"I'll drop you off," he offered. His coat already on and keys in his hand he led her to his car.

"Thanks, man," she said bashfully. He winked at her.

"How was your first day?" He turned to her, one of his hands was on the steering wheel, the other nervously fiddled with everything it could.

"Fine, it's just-" she began and he stopped.

"Are you scared?" He asked.

"What? No!" She lied through her teeth.

"You shouldn't be, nothing in there will do you any harm," he patted her knee to reassure her. "The animatronics may seem scary but they're just plastic and metal at the end of the day. Nothing you haven't worked with before in uni. Are you alright?"

"Fine, just tired."

"I am absolutely knackered, hopefully, you'd get some real rest for tomorrow got it?" He dropped her off to the front of her apartment complex.

"Good night, Lysander," he grinned.

She smiled and walked to her house. When she got inside she realized that she never told him her address.


	4. Suffering, Atonement, Mistakes

The had lights shut off, she was alone, in the night, without anything to see where they currently were. She couldn't stay where she was, she was a sitting duck stuck in that room and the doors wouldn't close. No, she absolutely _had_ to move but she just couldn't will her legs to do so. "Move!" She internally yelled. Yet her eyes stayed fixed on the murky darkness of the West Hall.

"Move!" She cried once more, the voice in her head buzzed. "Why won't you fucking move?" She finally got up, took one long, desperate look into the darkness, she wondered where Baby had gone. She shook her head, she couldn't afford to think about that. She ran out into the East Hall, she didn't want to be around Rhys' office in the West.

Her heart drummed violently, she swore she could hear it. Fazbear's was cloaked under the cover of night, the few dim light fixtures buzzed and flickered lazily. She kept to the shadows that danced upon the wall when she ran across quietly. Someone, no, _thing_ was after her. She could feel their eyes on her as she ran down the hall, then she stopped.

Besides the buzz of the light fixtures, the hum and whir of machinery, and the short and detached breaths she took the restaurant was dead silent. She carefully stepped forward, her back pressed to the wall. Her foot landed on something. She heard a loud squeak. Horrified, she barely muffled her scream and looked down to see Bon Bon, Funtime Freddy's beloved companion. He ran off into the dark.

"I SEE YOU! COME ON OUT! YOU MUST ATONE FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!" A raspy and menacing voice called from the dark.

She gasped loudly. "Oh no, no, fuck!" She had to move out of the East Hall. _"But that's their Roaming Ground,"_ she thought and she paused momentarily before she decided that everywhere was their Roaming Ground. She was closer to the exit in the East Hall and thanked herself. She ran for it until she heard a cry, and then another one, and another until a whole chorus erupted around her and the exit pushed away from her and her back had pressed the wall where the Prize Corner and stages were. She could look over and see the animatronics circled around Cherry Bomb and his Prize Corner.

"He has to suffer!" That was Ballora.

"He has to atone!" That was Funtime Freddy.

He who? William Afton, maybe Michael. If his name was Michael. But what did they mean then? It was obvious they were in disagreement, the real question was why? Why did some of them want _The Murderer_ to atone? "No matter what somebody was going to get killed," she thought bitterly. It seemed as though they heard her thoughts because they all turned towards where she hid in the shadows.

Circus Baby's eyes were a shocking shade of blue, no green, especially in the dark.

Ballora gracefully turned on her toes and leaped to the wall, she crawled like a spider, her eyes on Lysander burned with distrust and animalistic rage. She made her way towards the hidden woman and without any thought, Lysander began to flee. Funtime Freddy was close behind her with the same expression. Funtime Chica and Foxy had soon followed, they left only Cherry Bomb and Baby. The pair looked at Lysander with their bright eyes before Lysander turned away to run for the exit. It was no use as Ballora dropped from the high ceiling and held Lysander up by her throat. Funtime Freddy staggered over with a hysterical laugh and claws at the end of his hands. _Why would he need those?_ She tried to think but was cut off as Freddy swiftly sliced open her stomach and her innards unraveled and hit the round with a sickeningly wet plop.

She didn't feel anything for a while as she looked up into the unfeeling eyes of Funtime Freddy. "What an ironic name," she managed to think as she looked back down to her exposed body. Then the pain hit, a wave of a burning and sharp yet dull sensation suddenly rushed over her body and she shrieked until her throat filled with blood, she choked as she watched her body bleed out. Yet she didn't die. Ballora looked down on her as Lysander's limp yet living body swung in her grip. Lysander managed to spit the blood away as her body gained life again and she screamed yet again, she had a sick intuition that no one would ever hear her.

The animatronics didn't seem to mind, because she could scream as loud as she wanted.

Lysander was damp with sweat when she woke up to her alarm that morning. Groggily, she pulled herself out of bed. Her stomach clenched with the memory of her dream. She was thankful that she didn't have work that day and slowly started her morning routine while the pondered the bizarre realness of her dream. She was cloaked in her robe and full off of coffee by nine o'clock. She paced her living room back and forth. _"What the_ _ **fuck**_ _was that?"_ Was the only thing that rung clearly in her mind, every other thought started only to stop suddenly or to weave into another thought. That was the most vivid nightmare she's ever had and she's had quite a few since her childhood. Every detail of it from the whir of the machines to the ring of her ears from the squeal Bon Bon made as her foot completely crushed him, to the absolute panic that struck her heart when they spotted her burned deeply in her mind.

She didn't know how to distract herself and after a bit of mental dispute, she searched through her old photos of the animatronics to see how far the Funtimes had come. How much different they looked now than about a decade ago. She dropped the photos and sunk into her couch. She was terrified about work, but she felt as though she had a responsibility to go, to let the world know of the poor deaths of those kids. If only she knew the full story, she didn't think she'd ever know. She wasn't sure she wanted to. The rest of her weekend revolved around her thoughts. Monday she walked into the doors of her job. She took a deep breath before she entered the playroom, they had just opened an hour ago and kids slowly trickled in.

She waved to Athena in the entrance. She realized that she was disemboweled right where Athena waved back to her. She shuddered much to Athena's worry. Lysander gave a weak smile before she set off to do her work. She felt surprisingly relaxed around the kids, she could almost let her guard down.

"Hey!"

Lysander turned around to be greeted with the weird Asian boy she had met before.

"You're still alive?" He joked.

"Unfortunately," she quipped, half-truthed, back.

"So Lysander is your name? What nerds did you have for parents?" He mocked.

"My dad named me, I think it's nice. Anyways, what do you need or want?" She cut herself off and focused on her job.

"I honestly just wanted to question you, I saw what you did to Baby. If you're so good with machines why work _here?_ " He asked.

"I mean, I'm not surprised at why you'd ask me that," Lysander stopped to think of a lie. "I just needed quick money," she shrugged.

He didn't believe her yet he still pushed out his hand to shake it. "I'm Russell. Russell Leong."

She smiled. "Lysander Travis."

"You went to the school I go to. I remember seeing your name on the list of students who made it to college. The engineering category was small, the computer engineering one even smaller. You were the only girl there, and one of the two minorities. I also want to go to school for computer engineering, I didn't think I could make it but I saw you and I figured: Hey, they must let anyone up there, huh? So, I was surprised to see you back here," he added a little joke at the end of his slightly complimentary little speech. Lysander laughed at him.

She almost blushed. "Yeah, well I just wanted to come back for a little while.

"I don't see why. There's nothing here in Mayhem, nothing but rich assholes running it up downtown and ruining both the ecosystem and economy," he said sharply. Lysander felt like she could relate to him.

"Trust me, my secretive mom is always off doing some business that I don't know anything about," Lysander said as she spotted an empty table with trash and grabbed her supplies to clean. Russell was quick on her heels.

"So, anyways, I have a project, in my college prep class. I am supposed to do a project on the person who inspired me to pursue my career path, and well. You're the only person on that list I've seen, so-" he kicked his foot shyly.

"Look, you seem smart," Lysander stated. "If not a bit rude. Here's my deal, I'll help you but you gotta help me."

"I don't have any-"

"It's not about money, if I wanted it I'd be on my mom's tit right about now. I mean info about this place, any little conspiracy or rumor you hear about Fazbear's I wanna know."

Russell looked at her in confusion. "Just why are you working here?"

"Yes or no?" She asked, slightly impatiently.

Russell looked at her weirdly before he nodded. "Whatever you're up to. I want in on it."

Lysander laughed lightly in his face. Russell shook his head before he walked off towards the exit. Lysander kind of liked him.

She had worked in a slow cycle where she took orders, delivered them, then wiped off a table. Occasionally she'd slip a small prize to a kid that piqued her interest but nothing interesting. Despite the area where she mainly worked being Freeroaming Ground for the animatronics she hardly saw them. Maybe Circus Baby once or twice being eagerly pulled along by a child.

She was called to deliver a specially made pizza to the table closest to the main stage for a birthday party. Ballora was about to perform for the birthday boy. Lysander was beyond nervous as she remembered the grip of Ballora's spidery fingers tightly around her neck. She waited in pure trepidation for the order she'd have to deliver. The chef handed it to her without care and she made her way over. Each step felt like a thousand years yet she moved entirely too fast. She had slowly built up her confidence as she made her way over to the table. Sweat had beaded on her neck and ran coldly down her back. She was close, she only had to move to giant tray a bit farther. She didn't see Ballora as she danced to her spot. She had been just fine, but she had to go and _fuck_ everything up. Time seemed to slow her tray collided with the metal of Ballora's midsection. Soda and pizza grease slid down Ballora's skinny and sleek frame, slowly it seeped into small cracks. Ballora looked just as shocked as Lysander was if not more.

Lysander looked up to see shock, then disgust, then anger flash across the mother's face. She could hear footsteps as they ran to the beat of Lysander's blood as it rushed through her ears, most likely Rhys'

"She's fine! She just needs to be cleaned up," Rhys assured the angry mother and everyone else. Rhys pulled Lysander to the side with pats on her shoulder to reassure her. "You've kind of cocked up. It's fine, it's fine. You know a lot about the animatronics," Rhys complimented her with a smile under his breath. "Can you fix this?"

Lysander wanted to say no and run away as far as she could

"Possibly, where's the repair room?"

Rhys led her and Ballora on stage and to stage right where the repair room was. "I had taken some supplies out of the supply room." He pulled out a ring of keys from his pocket and walked up to a locked cabinet, he unlocked it and grabbed a giant, folded blue paper. He then grabbed a giant toolbox and placed it on a large table towards the middle of the room.

"That's Ballora's blueprint. I thought you may need it." He said and moved out of her way.

The deep mechanic whir that the animatronics made was much louder in the quietness of the repair room. There was a claw-like machine that poked out of the wall furthest from her. She shuddered as one word rung in her head. "Scooper". Rhys didn't seem to like the room very much either as he stuck to the middle where he was the furthest from any machinery. Ballora carefully danced on the wheel in her foot to the table where she sat down obediently, eyes on the exit.

Rhys coughed through the tense air with a smile. "I'll be back. Don't break her, please." He left Lysander back behind with Ballora. Lysander was still buzzed with adrenaline from before and hadn't comprehended what she had done to Ballora until she was about thirty minutes into her work. She had removed a lot of Ballora's exoskeleton in her midsection and gently wiped her down.

"I had the worst dream," Lysander said to herself as she began to slowly place pieces back together. "You had killed me."

"Dreams can often be scary," Ballora replied and Lysander stopped in her tracks.

"Yeah, I know, but the one I had was really bad." Lysander forced herself to continue.

"Sometimes, when I am afraid, I like to think of things that make me happy," Ballora continued.

"I do too," Lysander agreed with the tall animatronic.

"Sometimes, there isn't much to think about. I like to go blank, to think about no one and nothing."

Lysander looked into her eyes. "That sounds hard, at least for a human."

Ballora finally took her eyes off of the exit to look at Lysander. "It is hard, but very much worth its trouble."

Ballora continued to make small comments about little things before Rhys came to fetch her for later. Lysander was allowed to go home early. She thought about how smart Ballora was as she backed out and made to drive home, she had tried to stop as she passed a stop sign but the break wouldn't work and she swerved into a tree. She got out of her car and paced the sidewalk. She didn't need a car mechanic to realize that her breaks had been cut. She had paced back and forth as she wondered what to do and decided to call Walter.

"Walter, uh, I just crashed my car," she began.

"What? Babygirl, are you okay?" He yelled over the phone, he told her that he was going to pick her up and figure out something. When Walter pulled up half an hour later she made him vow to secrecy, she couldn't imagine her mother's mouth after this.

"Do you know anyone who might hate you enough to do this?" He asked her as he pulled up to her door.

"No, I don't. I don't know many people, all my college friends are far from Mayhem, I thought I never pissed off anyone back in school," she pondered her various choices. A sick asshole that played a horrible prank, Athena, Rhys, Russell, or maybe one of the animatronics. None of those made any sense and she was left stumped. "No, I don't know anyone."

Walter was angry and scared for his stepdaughter. "Lysander, do you want to stay with your mom and me?"

"Absolutely not, no offense," she said quickly and got out of the car. "I'm sure it was some sick bastard, I'm fine. I'll call you later okay." Walter checked Lysander's entire house before he watched her safely settle and then he left. Lysander was scared out of her mind, first Ballora and now someone was out to kill her.

She shouldn't have taken that job.


	5. Losing All Concept of Time

Yes, Lysander knew she wouldn't find anything on her first year much less her first month, but _"fuck me,"_ she thought as she walked into her house on a Saturday night after work. It had been a month since that day. She realized that she's worked there over a _month_ and felt sick to her stomach. Besides her previous slip up she barely got close to the animatronics. She cursed herself for her paranoia.

She hurried home since it had finally turned late-Autumn and the sun went down earlier. A thunderstorm had started on her and she walked through the streets wet and cold and quickly. When she got home it was pitch black outside save for the dim streetlights that illuminated the sidewalk she hurried down. She needed to get her car fixed soon.

Lysander still hadn't found out who cut her breaks and she walked to work and back since then. She had pondered since then and now she just knew that someone targeted her. If she didn't know any better she'd say Fazbear themselves. She pushed that thought aside to sit on her couch and go through her evidence for the first time in weeks.

"What the fuck?"

Someone had been through her stuff and took some things. Luckily, she kept her incriminating evidence locked up and hidden. They were clearly after that and instead settled for some things from her living room pile of evidence.

"Somebody doesn't want me with this information," the woman whispered to herself. The thought of someone in her belongings, while she was home, was bad. At least it was until a flash of lightning sped through the sky and her lights went off. The thunder clapped loudly behind it. A new thought that terrified her surfaced in her head: her possibly robbed in the dark during a storm and quite possibly killed all because she decided to go after the wrong corporate company.

She could call Walter, but the man was already worried sick and her mother would quite possibly kill her because she didn't say anything about her brakes. She could even call Athena or Rhys, but it was late and she was sure everyone would be in bed. She could stay in the dark, cornered and alone or she could go out into the dark storm, open and defenseless. "So many possibilities. So little time." She said bitterly.

She wandered in the dark to her kitchen. Walter made her put a windup flashlight away when she first moved in and she could thank him a thousand times at that moment. She made her way to her living room couch and opened the windows. The lightning that flashed provided a little light beside her flashlight. What would she do? She was stuck in the dark until further notice.

She remembered that her landlord, Vince, stayed late because of marital problems, in fact, she was almost sure he was in his office while he answered calls about the power outage. She grabbed her wet raincoat and walked outside. All of the lights around her were off, but everywhere else the lights worked just fine. She could feel the rain beat down on her through her thick jacket. She was alone and she felt like someone watched her. She quickened her pace.

When Lysander got to his office door she didn't even bother to knock. She took off her coat and flopped herself onto a deep red sofa in the corner. Vince's office was brown and red and she liked how warm the colors were. Occasionally she'd visit him in her off time, though recently she'd visit him less and less.

"Well please Andy, come in uninvited!" He rolled his eyes and went back to his paperwork. Vince had a weird 'Italian man from Staten Island' accent that Lysander adored.

"Vinny! What happened to the lights?"

Vince, or Vinny, looked up at the young girl in his office on his couch. "Whaddaya mean?"

"The lights. My power just went off."

Vinny frowned. "What." He said it less like a question and more like a demand that she tell him why.

She laughed. "My lights, the things I use to see in the darkness; the things I pay my money for, are off."

"Only the lights around your house are off? If it was lightning it woulda taken this whole complex plus half of the buildings around here," Vinny said while he dialed on his phone. "I'll get somebody for the power. Stay here until the lights get fixed."

"I don't really-" she objected.

"Girl, stay, it's fine, trust me. Now shut up while I-." The sky flashed white and the lights went off, thunder followed soon after.

"Fuck my life. I'm going to check the box. Stay or leave but lock the bottom lock on the door either way," He grabbed a rain jacket and his keys and went outside, Lysander close on his heels.

"What is going on?"

Vinny, flashlight in hand turned to look at her. "Lysander, do ya know anyone that would...Purposefully harm ya maybe? Or anyone near ya?"

She stopped in her tracks, "Walter asked me that when my brakes were cut."

"Lysander, your fucking breaks were cut? Why haven't you told anybody? What the shit? Who out there would possibly want you hurt this bad?" He said worriedly.

"I don't. I can't-."

 _"I can't tell you,"_ she thought.

"I can't understand who would do this," she said.

Vinny groaned, "You have no care for your personal safety huh? You need to call the fucking police you dense girl."

Lysander scoffed. "And tell them what? That someone out there in the world cut my brakes. Like I told Walter they could've just snapped."

Vinny side eyed her. "I trust your judgment, please just stay on guard."

They had reached the power box near Lysander's apartment. Vinny took his flashlight and shone it on the box that was already opened and exposed. "Just as I thought. Someone tampered with this one area. Lysander, for Pete's sake!"

"Alright, I relent. I'll go to the station when I have time."

"When you have ti-LYSANDER! Goddammit!" Vinny turned red fairly easily.

"Listen, I'm glad you care, but I got this," she patted his arm. "Now let's head back."

"I'm calling the police when we get back, Lysander," he looked at her until she looked away.

Vinny nodded in dismay and took the lead with his flashlight. The heavy rain turned into a downpour, she wouldn't be surprised if it was a weak hurricane. She could feel the water slowly rise. Mayhem was prone to floods from its lack of trees and bad drainage systems. She slipped on mud and fell on her back, the wind effectively knocked out of her. When she got up she didn't see Vince anywhere.

"Vinny!" She yelled over the rain. The sky flashed with lightning and the rest of the lights shut off. She was blind in the dark and alone and she was practically deaf from the rain. It would almost be too easy for a murderer or something to get her. Fazbear Enterprises could just snatch her away. She could see the headlines, she could see the look on her mom and Walter and Vinny's faces. She could see Rhys and Athena in their beautiful respective glories, distraught at her death. She could see something in the distance, something that loomed far over her. She turned to run out of the complex and into the street. Someone should see her. She shouldn't have run away, whatever it was ran far faster. The wind was knocked out of her and she hit the ground face first. She felt her nose crack and thick, warm blood drained out.

She scrambled to her feet and stared back into bright eyes like headlights. She was scared she would die. She turned around in the darkness to see a car upon her, they hit the breaks early enough so that she only flew a few feet when she was hit.

* * *

She woke up...Somewhere. The harsh whiteness of the walls alarmed her. She bolted up much to the chagrin of someone in a chair near her. She looked down to see an IV in her arm. A hospital. She was in a hospital. She turned to see Athena in shock.

Athena smiled awkwardly. "I was worried. I know we don't know each other all that well, but I-." Her face almost turned the color of her lipstick.

Lysander smiled, she was suddenly incredibly happy. "Thank you for caring, really it means a fuck ton." She, at that moment, noticed how few friends she had and was thankful that Athena was there.

Athena slowly sat on the bed, "Of course. Mr. Rhys also wanted me to say that you don't have to worry about your check, both of us covered your work."

Lysander prepared to ask how long she was sleep but someone walked in and interrupted her.

"Baby Girl!" Walter cried. He ran for her and wrapped his arms around her. "Vince already called the police, an investigation is going on as we speak. Who, who would do this to you, my sweet Baby Girl?"

Lysander grimaced as she suddenly remembered those eyes in the dark. "I don't know."

"You might have a stalker," Athena said suddenly. "Um, your friend Vince said. He said you might have a stalker," she added bashfully.

"Vince is here?" Lysander asked.

"He's in the cafeteria," she replied.

"I can't pay for this, Walter," Lysander turned to Walter.

"We know, your mom is paying," he patted her shoulders.

"Is she here?"

"Yeah, she's outside talking," he laughed at Lysander's horrified expression. "It's about time you two talked it out anyways."

Lysander turned her legs off of the bed. "I'm ready to go."

"N-no no no," Athena stood. "The doctor said you had internal bleeding, it might have healed over the week but-"

"THE WEEK? I was knocked out for a week?" She turned to Walter. He nodded solemnly.

The door opened and her mother peeked in. "Lysander!"

Walter looked over at Athena and they both quietly walked out.

"Lysander," Penelope began.

"Yeah, look you don't have to. I'm sorry for cussing at you. Let's just-," Lysander stopped short when she noticed the look in her eyes.

"No! Let me finish, girl. I'm sorry for not being supportive of your... _Hobby._ You've always been an intelligent and productive girl and I should trust your judgment," the black woman met her daughter's gaze and lowered her voice.

"But I won't be able to help you if you push yourself farther," Penelope said and quickly made her way out. She pushed past Vince and Athena, they had their backs against the wall opposite of Lysander's room.

Walter, who was at the door, looked at Penelope and turned back to Lysander. "Here," he handed her a pair of keys. "You're smart, you'll figure everything out." He took Lysander into a quick hug and walked out, he nodded at Athena and Vince as he passed.

"Lysander!" Vince rushed in. "Fuckin' hell, when I find the fucker that did this to you the bitch is dead."

Athena awkwardly shuffled to the edge of the bed, her eyes trained on Lysander and Vince. "You guys have a good relationship."

Vince hugged Lysander's shoulders. "She's my girl. She's helped me through some shit."

Athena gave a small smile. "Well, it's good Lysander has such caring friends."

Lysander turned to the bed. "Let me get dressed and I'll check myself out."

"Lysander, you can't just-," Athena began but was stopped by Lysander who jingled the keys to her new car.

* * *

She was more resolved than ever when she was admitted from the hospital. She wanted to find out everything she could about Fazbears if it fucking killed her. She burst into Rhys' office a nice Winter morning, guns ablaze, eyes fixed on him in all his handsome glory. He returned her look back tenfold.

"I see someone is ready to work," he quipped.

"Back and readier than ever," she said as she sat down.

"Good. Because as of today you are now promoted to engineer/entertainer. No longer will you wipe down tables and serve pizza. You'll be with the animatronics! Isn't that grand?" Her blood froze as she met his gaze that seemed to almost challenge her to object.

"Who'll do my job then?" She asked.

"Haha, that would be me." Russell appeared suddenly behind her, she jumped back in surprise. "I'm a waiter now, well I have been for a few days."

"Russell is a good applicant. He's taking dual credit classes for Robert J. Mayhem University. You can help him!"

Lysander was surprised, he was a real go-getter. "That's a lot of work, Russell."

Russell laughed wryly. "Yeah, it is. But I need the money since my mom won't pay my phone bill anymore."

Lysander was curious, sure he was about 6'4 (a stark contrast from Lysander and Rhys' shared 5'11) and looked like a grown man, but a lot of high school students look extremely mature. Kids grew faster and faster every generation. "Russell, how old are you?"

"19." He stated simply. "I started school late...And failed a year."

She graduated just after her 18th birthday and started college three months after that. "Oh, no it's cool you're fine, but 19? I'm only like 3 years older than you."

He winked at her, "well then."

Rhys suddenly hopped to attention, he cut the two short. "I'm glad that you two have... _Previous history?"_

"Oh-! No, no," Russell shook his head.

"Not like that!" Lysander blurted out and laughed dryly.

Rhys almost seemed relieved. "My apologies!"

Russell scratched the back of his head. "I'll go clock in," he let himself out, the two were left behind.

Lysander turned to leave but Rhys stopped her.

"Um, Lysander, not to trouble you but please don't go around telling everyone what happened. Fazbear wanted to dock your pay, Athena and I had to work your job."

Lysander didn't meet his eyes. "Yeah, I know, Athena told me. My lips are sealed."

"She told you? Good, good. Also, the pizza chef has taken on the night guard position too. So don't go bothering him after hours," Rhys added.

Lysander's eyebrows noticeably quirked up. "Yeah...I won't."

"Finally, the animatronics hardly ever break down, so you won't have to worry much about them," he said and then looked down at his paperwork. Lysander took that as permission to leave.

Besides Russell and Athena's glances in her direction, nothing about the rest of that day was weird. Well, that and the number of times she noticed the saw Ballora. Lysander swore she hardly ever saw her.


	6. Night 1

She didn't know the pizza chef and besides a few times in the past where she picked up an order from him they hardly ever interacted. So she couldn't help but be surprised when she saw him in the break room with a petrified expression. He quite literally was petrified, he sat perfectly still while Rhys tried his hardest to comfort him.

"Lysander!" Rhys left the man's side and ran up to her. "Lysander, the animatronics they... _Malfunctioned_. Sort of, they started to act weird at night again. I need you to check them tonight."

If she thought her interaction with Ballora was bad she knew that it would get worse if she said yes. "Rhys, I'm sorry, I can't-," she began.

"Your job is to take care of the animatronics, yes?" He silenced her with a small smile.

"That wasn't what I was originally hired for but yes," she replied quietly while she tried to avoid the man in the corner's eyes. He watched her with the same petrified expression from before, except the fear in his face seemed to be directed towards her. Maybe for her?

"So, I am expecting you to do said job tonight. You will clean the place and take care of the animatronics and leave at 8 pm, but if you don't return...Let's hope it won't come to that," he still smiled at her but his irises were widened and it made his eyes appear much darker than what they were. "Don't worry, your payment will be handled accordingly. Your toolbox is in the repair room, it's labeled. The cleaning supplies are in the supply room. We'll talk about a new schedule later."

Lysander nodded compliantly and left the break room. All she had to do in the daytime was sweep and clean, and of course watch over the animatronics.

"What the fuck was that about?"

"What happened?" Russell had appeared behind her.

"Oh! Fuck, Russell, why do you do that?" Lysander looked at him before she turned to go to the closet.

"What did Rhys do?" He asked, he completely ignored her question.

"Remember what you said when you first met me?" She sighed in defeat.

His eyebrows quirked up. "'You wouldn't want to be caught dead in this place after 10 PM'?"

"Yeah, that."

"I'm going to go talk to him," Russell quickly turned to Rhys' office.

"No! No," she ran in front of him to block his path, her hands on both of his pecs. "There's nothing you can do about it anyway. It's in my contract. I-."

She suddenly remembered that Russell worked there. "Did you sign a contract?"

Russell nodded, "I read through it thoroughly. Fazbear has my soul for the next five tears."

"Why did you do that?" She nearly screamed.

"To help you, you seem like you're on to something. Besides, I wouldn't mind finding out what goes on behind the scenes here," he said and then looked into her eyes.

"Russell," she pulled her hands from his chest. "Thank you, you're far more supportive than my mother." Russell winked.

"Of course," and he walked off.

* * *

She hated the fact that the only way she could get to the supply room was through Ballora's stage. However, she was nowhere to be seen when Lysander crept her way back there, so Lysander simply went about her day completely animatronic free. She was less than an hour away from closing time and she currently scrubbed a grease stain out of the carpet when she was approached from the back. She expected it to be Russell or even Athena but it wasn't and she fell back in surprise.

 _Ballora._

It was Ballora.

For a moment Lysander looked up at Ballora's imposing figure in fear and awe.

"I am sorry to bother you, but I require repair," she said softly with her face in its signature close-eyed wide and welcoming smile. Lysander pulled herself from the ground as soon as Ballora spoke.

"Yeah, yeah, alright, yeah, come on follow me."

Lysander led her through the dining area to the repair room, she could hear Ballora dance around on her wheels behind her. Lysander noticed Ballora never walked, she danced. Why would they program her to constantly dance everywhere? They were, once again, alone in the repair room. Behind the main stage, where the walls were way too soundproof, she was trapped with Ballora.

"Alright, Ballora, what's wrong?"

"My music box, it does not work like it used to," she said, once again her eyes trained on the door. Lysander noticed she only ever opened them when the two were alone. They were purple and inhumanly small, but they flickered with artificial life. At least, Lysander hoped that was artificial.

Lysander grabbed Ballora's blueprints and scanned over them. Oddly enough, her music box was in her chest plates and not in her head as Lysander had previously thought. She gently pressed the buttons located on both sides of Ballora's hips and her chest plates popped open with a hiss, Lysander jumped back in surprise.

"Do you like parties?" Ballora asked while Lysander held her music box in her hands.

"As much as the next person," Lysander replied instantly but stopped when she realized who she had replied to. "Why ask?"

"I am needed for another party today," Ballora said. "I like parties, I like to bring joy to the faces of children, I like to be beloved by something so innocent."

Lysander full-on stared at her in shock, her voice caught in her throat. "That's very beautiful, Ballora."

"Do you like children?" Ballora asked her.

Lysander felt like she was being interrogated.

"Yeah," she said. She fiddled with a small screwdriver head in her hands before she put it back in the box and grabbed another, slightly bigger one. "I do, I used to work at this diner on Proctor Street and for some reason, either old couples and their grandchildren or recently married people and their young children would always come and I'd serve pancakes with fruit faces. High schoolers from Robinson would also come on Saturdays and when the rush hour was over I'd play Uno with them between what few orders I had during that time of night." She noticed she'd rambled on while she tweaked Ballora's music box and she quieted herself. Why was she telling the _robot_ about her past job?

Ballora hummed in response. "That's very beautiful, Lysander."

Lysander's breath hitched in surprise but she realized she wore a tag with her name on it. She finished off Ballora's music box with the help of the blueprint and placed it back in Ballora.

"Could you play it for me, Ballora?"

Lysander regretted that immediately, the song was slow, gentle, beautiful, and slightly creepy almost like Ballora herself. It sounded far too loud in the thick silence of the room.

"Thank you, Lysander, it sounds as good as new," she spoke slowly, her voice was velvety, deep, and strangely comforting. Lysander could almost let her guard down.

Lysander was reminded of her nightmare from a while ago, how Ballora looked at her with pure, unbridled hatred, her arms coiled around Lysander like a snake yet she moved like a spider. That Ballora was nowhere near as kind as the Ballora in front of her who looked at her with... _"Is that concern?"_

Lysander liked to think she was fairly good at reading people, it's how she avoided touchy subjects with her mother, it's how she guilted her professors into giving her more time on her assignments, it's why children liked her so much. So she was sure that Ballora looked at her with concern, albeit conflicted concern.

"Thank you," Ballora said and excused herself from the room.

Lysander stared on for a moment more and put everything away. When she was done Rhys had poked his head in the room, it was noticeable how he felt about even being in there.

"We fixed her!" He cried.

"Fixed who?" Lysander asked in surprise.

"Chica! Don't tell me you haven't noticed her absence?"

Funtime Chica, despite her appearance on the website, was never actually in the building in all of Lysander's months working there, which yeah, wasn't many, but enough to notice how one of the staff members just wasn't there at all. The kids asked about her often and Lysander made the excuse that she was just visiting family, of course when parents asked she said that Chica was getting repaired.

Rhys handed her a new blueprint, it was crisp and a far lighter shade of blue than the others. Instead of Funtime Chica being on the front it said Bubblegum Chica, she was an odd mix between Rockstar and Funtime Chica. It was a bit closer to Funtime in resemblance but instead of the previous eyesore white and pink it was a dark purple and pastel yellow and instead of maracas or a cupcake she held an umbrella in her hands.

Come to think of it, she was sure that Baby, Ballora, Freddy, Chica, Foxy, and Bon Bon were all built with pieces of some past reincarnation of themselves. Plus she was more than sure that Cherry Bomb was just the Puppet or at least pieces of the Puppet.

Lysander can admit that the Freddy & Friends Music House was a fairly decent idea. In fact, it was the only location where a murder case wasn't the cause of it getting shut down. Chica just kind of vanished. How they lost a ten-foot (okay not that tall) robot is beyond her.

"We recovered her," Rhys began.

Recovered sounded a lot like _found_.

"But she's brand new, so she shouldn't go breaking on you," Rhys added. He noticed Lysander walked towards him and he moved to let her out of the room.

"That's good, the kids will like Chica's new 'makeover'," Lysander said shortly and went to clock out.

She almost forgot she'd have to return later that night. Yes, she was still put off by Rhys' smile earlier. She knew Rhys had the capability of convincing smiles and he didn't even try to seem warm to her. Maybe it was good 'commanding' was on his list of traits, he was a manager.

She didn't even bother with her car. She knew that a there was a 24-hour burger joint right down the block and she stayed there. She ate and talked with Vinny and Athena over the phone, they seemed to hit it off, she was happy for them. Vinny needed some company while his divorce was finalized.

"How's it like workin' there?" Vince asked over his line, he was in his office yet again. "This question is for the both of ya."

"You mean Fazfuck's, you know how I feel. It's like any other job," Lysander laughed in the empty booth she sat in. The rest of the restaurant wasn't empty though and she had to speak a bit louder so they would hear her.

Athena had her makeup wiped off and she was nestled in a bed full of pillows and stuffed animals, a rather big gray cat was curled on her chest. She snorted over her line. "Fazfuck's? That's a new one," she laughed while her hand absentmindedly patted the head of her cat. Lysander could hear the sound of its purr through the phone.

"Athena, that's one cute ass cat," Lysander always wanted a cat but never had the time or money to take care of one.

"Hm? Yeah, his name is Archer," she cooed at the cat.

"Like the show?" Vince perked up.

"The one on FX yeah," she said.

"Uh oh, Athena," Lysander teased. "We love that show, that's how we bonded over our shit lives. You might get yourself a new admirer."

"What about you and your boss?" Vinny quickly snapped back.

"Or you and Russell?" Athena added.

"Hey, I don't recall my life ever being your business," Lysander playfully snapped.

"Two of them? Andy!" Vince said, playfully vexed.

"Don't forget Ballora," Athena added and Lysander stopped in the middle of her burger. "I swear she trails behind you like a puppy."

Lysander noticed that she saw her more but did the animatronic follow her? Was she studying her? Trying to see if she was an enemy or not?

"Isn't that the ballerina?" Vince asked. "Andy your taste is odd. Asian, British, and...Robot?"

"Oh fuck off," she laughed. "Anyways I got to get back to work."

"What?" They both asked.

"Yeah, I got promoted to engineer which really means janitor/repairman."

"And you have to be out late?" Vince asked.

"It depends on what I have to do," she added and popped the last fry on her plate into her mouth.

"You goddamn fool, were you not almost killed?" Vince practically yelled and Lysander turned her phone's volume down.

"That's a stretch it was some minor internal bleeding," Lysander tried to play it off. "I don't understand why you just don't quit," the Italian man grumbled under his breath.

"You know how hard it is for me to find jobs," she whined at him. Sure, that was a reason but the real reason was far deeper than she cared to admit. She played around more than she would admit to herself but that night she knew she was going to get serious, no more distractions. She told herself when she went into that evidence locker room in high school.

Wait, evidence locker room?

She realized that the room where she found some of her most incriminating evidence was not even there anymore. She didn't even notice Athena and Vince go off into their conversation until she bid them goodbye and hurried out back towards the arcade, it had started to rain yet again and she knew that it would only get heavier. Not to mention how cold it was. She broke out into a sprint. When she got back Rhys was surprisingly at the front door. He must've waited for her. She almost thought that was sweet.

"Change of plans, you've checked Ballora today and everyone else is fine all I need you to do is check Baby's air pumps and ice cream maker. Then you can go home."

Baby looked up at the sound of her name, she sat in the dining area, right across from Funtime Freddy. Freddy seemed nice enough, he played with Bon Bon and the kids the most out of the animatronics.

Baby didn't need Lysander's instructions as she stood up and led the way to the back of the main stage. Lysander noticed how she was only ever back there with Ballora.

"Alright Baby, How ya doin?" Lysander playfully asked as she pulled out her supplies.

"Mr. Rhys told you already," she said bluntly.

"Ooh, blunt, I like you," Lysander said and began to work on her air pump, which only had a piece of cake stuck inside. The ice cream maker was more involved, she yet again had to open body plates to fix an animatronic.

"I'm sorry," Baby said after a while. "You have only ever shown us kindness."

"Well, why would I show anything else? You've done nothing to me," Lysander replied.

"You always seemed scared of us," Baby replied.

"I'm just kinda scared of how tall you guys are. You've ever heard of Show Stopper's? Their animatronics are like 5 feet."

 _"Plus they didn't have dead kids' bodies in them,"_ she wanted to add.

"Well, hopefully, you have grown used to us," Baby said.

"Yeah, you guys are cool," Lysander said. She used a towel to wipe down cluttered ice cream in her chest. Baby's body was a sleek red and platinum color, it reminded Lysander of a Corvette. She was just as cool as one too. Baby seemed to be more or less like Rhys, clearly the boss despite Funtime Freddy being the mascot of the arcade. She was the one who wrapped up around closing time or helped in the kitchen.

Her voice was soft, welcoming, and wispy if not a bit more on the childlike side compared to Ballora. Ballora sounded like a suave businesswoman, Baby sounded like her young soft-spoken secretary who knew way too much for her position.

And that made her much scarier than Ballora.

"How do you feel about Ballora?" Baby asked.

Speak of the devil.

"She's the one I talked to the most, she's very well-spoken and kind," Lysander replied as she finished off the nozzle on the machine and closed Baby up.

"Ballora is stubborn, very stubborn, she likes you but she doesn't fully trust you. I'd suggest you change that quickly," Baby kept eye contact with Lysander. She heard the thunderclap in the distance, Mayhem and its rain. "We are divided and whatever side you choose, you must be prepared to deal with the wrath of the other."

"Wait what?" Lysander stopped in her tracks.

"There will come a time when you have to choose your allies and enemies, choose wisely, you'll have to help yourself when the time comes." Why did that sound familiar?

"You-you're just robots! You shouldn't feel any type of way!"

"You're right, robots don't feel, but we do," Baby brought her voice to a whisper, she pushed past Lysander and right out of the door. Lysander watched as Baby walked off.

She never wanted to get in between the arguments of spirits long dead and angry. She wanted to uncover secrets, not unearth decades-old hate. There weren't any more spirits there, there just weren't. They were burned down. Someone was playing a game with her, someone tampered with those robots. Right?

She swallowed her fear and made herself stand tall. She finished cleaning up and left the backstage. Where she was yet again greeted by Rhys.

"Rhys? What are you still doing here?"

"Paperwork," he smiled. "I gather you're about to leave, huh?"

"Yeah, it's storming, and you know how Mayhem is, I'll have to swim the rest of the way home," Lysander sighed.

"Hm, yeah, well my car has bigger tires. Perhaps I can take you home?" Rhys offered.

"I couldn't," Lysander began but she realized that she just got that car and would be damned it if broke because she drove it into a flood by being stubborn. Also, her recent interaction with Baby had her more afraid than she'd ever admit. "Actually," she began again.

"Haha, I see how it is," he laughed while he rotated his keys on his fingers. Let's go."

She was tense and damp when she got into the passenger seat of his car. Thoughts were swimming in her head at a thousand miles per hour. She wasn't a dumb girl, she prided herself on her intelligence. She knew the choice she made had something to do with her dream. Was it even a dream? A premonition?

Atone or suffer?

Should the murderer be forced to apologize and everyone move on or should he suffer until the end of daylight for his crimes against humanity?

 _"You know, I never liked the way the animatronics looked at me,"_ Rhys whispered and she stopped.

 _"What?"_

"Sorry, just trying to ease the air. Listen, I'm sorry for earlier, I shouldn't have cut you off like that, I'm a buggering idiot, I know," he sighed.

"Pfft," she nearly choked on a laugh.

"Huh? What? What I do?"

"You're so fucking British," she laughed.

"Oh, sod off!" He didn't blush but he looked visibly embarrassed.

"Anyways, I forgive you, you're still the kindest dude I've ever met," she beamed at him, he turned from the road for a moment to look into her eyes and smile, then he quickly looked away. When they pulled up to her apartment they were both in tears from the various jokes and insults they threw at each other.

"Hey Rhys," she said as the laughter died down. "You, are you sure you want to ride home? It's pretty dark out there. Plus, I'd like a ride to work," she said lowly.

His breath hitched in his throat. "Lysander, I-." He stopped and thought about it. "Yes, I would."

They both walked to her door when she remembered the state of her living room.

"Rhys, wait, it's not clean," she reasoned.

"Oh, Lysander, really it's," he began.

"Please, wait out here," she pleaded and he nodded in defeat.

She opened the door quickly and shut it just as fast.

She was so glad she decided to install some cheap curtains over her wall. She covered her evidence wall as fast as she could, she wasn't a messy person but there were stray papers everywhere, she hurriedly tossed them under her kitchen sink cabinet. She returned to the door with a wild smile on her face.

"Alright, Boss, come on in."

Rhys stepped in, his curly brown hair and eyes glowed warmly in her living room's dim lamplight.

Lysander thought he was pretty.

His features were soft and kind she realized as she noticed him scan her small apartment. The opposite of Russell. Russell's features were sharp, his jawline, cheekbones, and nose were sculpted, Russell was handsome. Rhys, on the other hand, was soft, his face and nose were round his hair curly and his eyelashes sat on his cheeks when his eyes were closed. She should not have invited him in.

"Your house is cozy and warm, like you," he added.

"Thanks, I wonder where you live," she laughed but she noticed his face falter.

"I hate my house, it's lonely," he said. That made Lysander wonder. Was he flirting? She knew he flirted in the past, they both did, but now.

"You didn't have to invite me," he suddenly whispered. "It's fine," her voice instinctively lowered to match him. "I wanted you here."

"A boss and his best worker hanging out, huh?" He added. Oh, she was 100% sure he was hesitating because of their job dynamic. She won't have to worry about that much longer when she eventually puts Fazbear's under the fire it deserves.

"Hell yeah," she laughed.

He seemed nervous around her. "So, have you been feeling okay since then?"

She almost forgot she was almost killed as Vinny rightfully put it. It seemed so far from her mind, but maybe it should be at the forefront.

"I-I-," he shouldn't have said that. "I don't know!" She exclaimed and slumped on the couch. She groaned loudly. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"I'm sorry," he said into her hair.

"It's fine, it's fine," she shook it off and he let her go. She missed his embrace.

"So, are you ready to sleep?" She asked

"I mean," he looked over at her TV. "Have you ever watched Peaky Blinders?"

"No, I've heard of it though," she said with a smile.

"Well then, Bird," she almost shivered at the pet name. "It's going to be a long night," he said with a smirk.

He shouldn't have said that.

 _He should not have said that._


End file.
